


Fight or Flight

by holyfloodlights



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22633051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holyfloodlights/pseuds/holyfloodlights
Summary: When Wren Fowler signed up for the Andromeda Initiative, he took it as a second chance to get his life back on track.  Little did he know it would be a second chance at everything.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Fight or Flight

“Do we know who he is?” Dr. Lexi T’Perro allowed the Pathfinder to carry the man into the med bay, lying him down carefully in the health pod that would scan for his injuries and infections.

“I have no idea. His omni-tool was blocking mine. But he has an Andromeda Initiative logo on his armor.” Sara backed up as Lexi tapped on the bio screen, activating a scan. He was human; dark, curly hair was pulled back in a loose bun behind his head, and his olive-toned skin was freckled across a disconcertingly thin frame. The man was covered in grime, bruises and cuts littering his arms and face. They’d found him unconscious in the back of a cave after a jarring fight with the Outcasts, strapped to a chair interrogation-style. He had several knife wounds in both thighs, and both of his eyes were swollen and bruised. “You think if we get him back to the Nexus, they’ll be able to ID him?"

“I might be able to do it myself if you give me time. He shouldn’t be able to block anyone from his omni-tool, but his DNA should reveal him.” The asari doctor watched as the frame of his body appeared on the holo-screen, multiple body parts glowing red from infection and trauma. His heartrate popped up on the upper right section of the screen—faint, but still beating. “Goddess. This infection—he’s got a fever. I’ve got to get him started on some antibiotics right away.” Lexi maneuvered her way around Ryder, grabbing the IV machine from the corner and bringing it over. “Ryder, I need you to stay out of the way. I’m going to do the best I can with him, but you can’t stand right by him the entire time."

“Sorry,” Sara apologized, moving to the corner. “I just—I feel like I know him from somewhere. I wanna make sure he… makes it.”

Lexi stuck him with the needle, taping it to his arm and starting with the infusion of antibiotics. “Take a seat. This is going to be a while.”

* * *

“You figure out who he is, yet?” Liam stood at the entrance to the med bay, Peebee peeking over his shoulder. “You said he’s Nexus, right?"

Sara nodded, standing beside the pod. It had been a grueling few hours, but the man was finally stable, his wounds packed with just enough medigel to start the healing process. The knife wounds were already scabbing over, thankfully. “What was his name, Lexi?”

Lexi sat in her chair, preparing another IV bag for the man. “He’s in the Nexus database as Wren Fowler, but there’s not much on him before Andromeda. He was part of an infiltrator team. The thing that’s worrying me is that he was declared missing in action a few months ago after a trip into Kadara Port went wrong. Half his team was displaced. But why was the Nexus sending anyone onto Kadara? We were told we were the first team to make contact after the riots.”

“We weren’t here yet, yeah? They were probably losing hope,” Sara muttered, gripping onto the side of the health pod. Liam and Peebee had finally walked into the room, glancing over the man beside Ryder. “Poor guy. He was probably just following orders, then the Outcasts captured him. I wonder what they were trying to get out of him.”

“They might’ve blocked his omni-tool to keep him from getting help,” Liam suggested, looming over the pod to get a closer look of him.

“Half an hour to the Nexus,” Kallo came over the intercom. “How’s the kid doing?”  
“He’s stable,” Lexi responded into her omni-tool. “Once we’re close enough, make sure they’ve got a medical team on standby when we port.”

“Will do,” Kallo replied.

“What else does it say in the file?” Peebee asked, starting over to Lexi’s computer, but Lexi stood, crossing her arms.

“We shouldn’t be snooping around any further. Once he’s awake, hopefully we can get the full story.”

* * *

“Okay, we’re just going to ask some questions. Test your mental acuity after what happened. You okay with that?” Dr. Harry Carlisle asked, sitting down beside Wren, who had, minutes before, finally awoken. Wren nodded weakly, trying to get a sense of his surroundings. “What is your name?”

“Wren Fowler,” he responded quietly, his voice hoarse.

“Good. Where are you?”

“The Nexus?” Wren answered, glancing around.

“Right. How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.”

“Plus six hundred years or so,” Harry chuckled, writing down his notes. “Where were you born?”

“London.”

“Good. Who was—” Harry stopped, glancing over his shoulder as he heard rushed footsteps. Seeing the Pathfinder making her way into the med bay, he sighed, motioning for Wren to give him a minute as he stood, meeting her halfway. “Sara, this isn’t a good time. He just woke up. Give him ten minutes, at the very least.”

“I’m not—I just wanted to make sure he was doing okay,” Ryder replied, trying to get a peek at the man in his cot. They’d managed to clean him up; his curly brown hair was in his eyes, which were no longer swollen, but still covered in yellowing bruises.

“He’s doing fine. If you stay quiet, you can sit with me while I make sure there’s no memory loss.” Sara nodded, and they both walked back to the bed. Wren furrowed his brow at Sara, feeling like he recognized her, but she kept her mouth shut. “Alright, Wren. What was your mother’s name?”

“Mickey,” he replied, still staring at Sara.

“Great. Who is your superior?”

“Tiran Kandros.”

“And your team?”

“APEX Infiltration.”

“Good.” The doctor took his notes, then glanced over at Sara quickly before looking back at his patient. “You thirsty?”

“Terribly,” Wren whispered, reaching up to rub his neck.

“I’m sure you’re hungry, too. I’ll send for one of the assistants to grab something for you, but once it gets here, take it slow, alright? You’ve been unconscious for about two days, Wren. Your stomach’s not going to like everything you send its way right away.” Wren nodded. “This is the Pathfinder, Sara Ryder. I have a feeling she’s going to want to ask you some questions.”

Wren’s eyes widened, glancing at Sara. “She’s—What happened to Alec?”

Harry and Sara’s eyes met in concern, and Harry sighed, setting a hand gently on Wren’s lower leg. “You’ve been out for a while, Wren. Sara can explain everything. I’ll be right back to take some blood tests.” He stood, making his way towards one of the assistants.

“You’re… Alec’s daughter, aren’t you?” Sara sat down in the chair, looking a little pained as Wren mentioned her father again. “You’re one of the twins.”

“Yeah.” Sara gave an awkward laugh, crossing her arms. “He, uh… He didn’t make it."

Wren looked down at his lap, biting the inside of his cheek. “What happened?”

“We hadn’t heard anything from the Nexus when we arrived, so we’d landed the team on Habitat 7. Or, well, crash-landed on it.” Sara looked up at him, tilting her head. “How did you know my father?”

Wren seemed a little hesitant to answer. “He was somebody I looked up to in the Alliance. When he was discharged, I realized there was an issue with the… ah… bureaucracy. He gave me a chance when no one else did.”

Sara gave a sad smile, looking down. “He was good at that, huh? Making people feel like they had to keep going.”

“Yeah.” Wren swallowed, clearing his throat. “So he… transferred the Pathfindership to you, huh?”

Sara snorted, shaking her head in disbelief. “Big shoes to fill.”

“Truly.” Wren reached up as a medical assistant brought him a cup of water with a straw. “Thank you, sir.”

He took a small sip, just enough to wet his cotton-dry throat, and Sara took it from him, setting it on the table beside him. “Do you mind if I ask you some questions?” Sara asked, leaning against the hospital cot railing. He shook his head, holding his crossed arms tight against his stomach. “I’m going to have to record it, just for your safety. Is that okay?” Wren gave a soft noise in agreement, and she pulled up the voice recorder on her omni-tool. “You were deployed by Kandros onto Kadara, right? With the rest of your team? What was the mission?”

“It was really specific,” Wren said, clearing his throat again. “Kandros wanted us to clear out one of their hideouts and find some of their recruitment logs. There were attacks on the Nexus after the Exiles left, so he needed to know who exactly we were dealing with.” Wren took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “It didn’t go well, but you already knew that. I’m sure Kandros would give out the mission report if you asked.”

“Did anyone else get captured?” Ryder asked.

“I don’t know. Seems like they just railed down most of the team from my point.” Wren coughed again, covering his mouth as he did so. “I’m—I was up higher, trying to cover them from above. From what I understood, no one else got away. They saw me firing from my position, and I couldn’t get out in time before one of them got up in the overhang and tasered me.”

Sara nodded. “If this is too sore of a subject, tell me. But you looked like you’d just been interrogated when we found you. What were they trying to get out of you?”

Wren looked up at her with tired brown eyes. “Access codes, mostly. Some access codes for the main laboratory, others for the cryogenic facility.”

“Did you give anything to them?”

“No. I didn’t have much memorized quite yet; a lot of it was secure on my omni-tool, and when they realized I wouldn’t give them access, they tried to hack it, but the Nexus security measures detected a breach and shut it off completely.”

“Understandable.” Sara paused, giving a sad smile. “I’m sorry you went through this.”

Sara reached over, putting a hand on top of his own—he jumped a bit at being touched, but he gave a tight smile back. “It’s—It’s over, and I’m grateful for that.” He pulled his hand away from hers, looking a little uncomfortable with the physical contact. “I’m feeling… I’m really tired, Pathfinder. I’m sorry. Do you mind if we talk later, after I’ve gotten some rest and something in my stomach?”

“Not at all. Get some sleep.” Wren nodded, closing his eyes. She stood, stopping the recording and starting to walk off—but stopping, turning back to him. “Can I just ask one more question? It’s not on the record.”

Wren opened his eyes again. “What is it?”

“What was my dad like?” she asked quietly, giving a hint of a smile. “In the Alliance. Was he as much of a hard-ass as he was when he got discharged?”

Wren laughed, catching himself in a cough. “He—Alec was always a hard-ass, I think. But he used it to get people to do their best.”

* * *

“How’s Fowler doing?” Tiran asked as soon as Sara made her way into the tactics office, ignoring his current conversations to make his way to Ryder. “I can’t believe he made it out. I thought they’d all died, Ryder.”

“He’s awake,” Sara said, crossing her arms. “What’s it been, three months since the initial mission? He’s playing catch-up, unfortunately, but he’s better than he looked when we picked him up on Kadara.”

“Thank goodness,” Tiran muttered, pulling up something on his omni-tool. “I’m sending you the details of the mission and its report. I’ll make amendments to the final report to reflect that he survived. Thank you for bringing him back home, Pathfinder. He’s a sharpshooter king, but if I’m being honest, I was worried about sending him out to Kadara in particular.”

Sara gave a questioning look. “Why’s that?”

“He’s capable, don’t get me wrong,” Tiran started, walking towards the database center, “but I tried to get a background check on him—y’know, before the Andromeda Initiative—and his history was almost completely blank. Some basic information—born on Earth, parents Mickey and Hector, approximately twenty-six years of age, his blood type, all that biological shit, and a letter of commendation from your father, specifically for his combat skills and explosive expertise. But that’s it. Everything else was locked off on a higher clearance. I even tried to get Tann to get into it, but he wouldn’t. No education, no military history, no mercenary history, nothing.”

Sara pursed her lips, pulling up the mission report on her omni-tool. “And you sent him on this mission anyway because…”

Tiran held the bridge of his beak, closing his eyes with a sigh. “I’d seen him during the revolt. He protected quite a few people when things turned violent, hid the scientists, doctors, and the other vulnerable folks in Cryo and locked it down so that no one else would get hurt by the Exiles. Yeah, the krogans fought hard, but he was a big part in keeping everyone that’s here now alive.”

Sara read through the mission report as he spoke. It was short, unfortunately, as it primarily listed the entire team as missing in action. “Well, he obviously has a will to keep things in order. He was interrogated by the Outcasts, but said he hadn’t told them a single thing. They were mostly asking for access codes to the Nexus. Let me send you the recording. I asked him what I could before he fell back asleep.”

“Thank you,” Tiran sighed, sitting down at one of the computer consoles of the database. “I’ll get some of the bureaucratic paperwork shit out of the way, and I’ll keep you updated on his status in the med bay. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon, I’m sure.”

“About that…” Sara leaned against the short cubicle containing the computer, glancing at Tiran contemplatively. “How terribly would you miss him if I asked him to join the team?”

Tiran stopped typing, looking up at her with wide eyes. “What?”

“Not now, obviously. He’s got some recovering to do. But if he wanted to join up with the Pathfinder team, how sore would you be about it?”

“I—” Tiran shook his head, obviously not excited about it. “You’ve got so many people on your team, Ryder. A lot of capable people. Why do you want him?”

“If I’m gonna be honest, I feel like I’d be doing a disservice to my dad if I didn’t offer him a place on the team.” Tiran’s look softened. “He knew Dad personally—he didn’t take it too well when he found out he’d died back on Habitat 7. And, yeah, he doesn’t have a known history, but Dad didn’t trust people easily. He must’ve known something good was in him, y’know?”

Tiran nodded, taking a moment to think. “Alright, I get it. Ask him first. If he wants to, I’ll sign off on it.”

* * *

“How’s Wren doing, Harry?” Ryder had the Nexus doctor on a video call as they made their way back from their mission on Havarl. It had been a couple of weeks, and she hadn’t gotten so much as an email update from him. “Making progress?”

“Pathfinder! Sorry, it’s been awfully busy with the angaran delegation. Fowler’s doing just fine—he’s doing some physical therapy right now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Kandros clears him for duty tomorrow. The comms unit got his omni-tool working again last week. I’ll get him in contact with you in a second if you’d rather hear from him.”

Sara smiled. “You sound pretty occupied at the moment, so that works.”

“One second.” Within seconds, Wren popped up on the screen. He was covered in sweat with his hair tied back, standing in front of a treadmill. “Fowler?”

“What’s it now, Harry? I can’t keep up on the exercise if you’re calling me every—” He stopped suddenly—Sara laughed a bit, as it seemed maybe Sara’s footage had just popped up on the call. “Oh! Uh, sorry, Pathfinder.”

“No worries. This won’t take up too much time. Doc just wanted to get us in contact. Get back to work, Harry.” Harry winked, hanging up. “How are you feeling, Wren?”

Wren wiped the sweat from his face, leaning against the treadmill. “I’m fine. The stab wounds finally closed up maybe a week ago. Just trying to get back into military shape at this point.”

“Your eyes are looking better, too. You look like you finally got some sleep.”

Wren gave an awkward laugh. “Yeah, uh, not really used to that.” He cleared his throat. “Did you need something from me?”

“I wanted to wait until we’d gotten back to the Nexus in a few hours, but I hadn’t heard any updates on your status, so I figured I’d call instead.” Sara tapped a couple of things on her omni-tool screen as she spoke. “Did you particularly enjoy working with Kandros?”

Wren pursed his lips. “It was fine. Kept the days going. Why?”

“How would you like to join the Pathfinder team?”

Wren’s eyes widened, and he reached over, turning the treadmill off. “Excuse me?”

Sara grinned. “Do you want to be part of my team? I figure we’d benefit from an infiltrator in the field.”

Surprisingly, Wren seemed more in shock than excited. “Are you… sure? I—This was your idea, right? Kandros isn’t just reassigning me because of the failed mission, right?”

“What? No, this was all me.” Sara sighed, tilting her head. “Wren, I think you’re gonna be good with us. Kandros was worried sick when he’d gotten word that you’d survived, and he was loath to let you out of APEX.”

“Oh.” Wren rubbed his neck, visibly thinking. He seemed hesitant at best, possibly a little saddened. “Ryder, I—here’s the thing. I’d asked Alec if I could take part in the Pathfinder team before we’d launched for Andromeda, and he told me I needed to… well, earn it. I don’t know if I’ve earned it, yet.”

“You went through a nearly fatal interrogation without giving away any information, Fowler. You’ve already shown you give a shit about the Initiative. I think you’ve more than earned it,” she said a little sternly. “If you’re not sure, just give it some thought. We’re a few hours away from the Nexus still. When I get to the med bay, though, I’m gonna need an answer.”

Wren nodded, still thinking. “Will do. Thank you, Pathfinder.”

* * *

“I’ll do it. But we have to talk first.”

That was his first words to her as soon as she’d made it into the med bay, and now she sat in an empty conference room as he stood before her, pacing a bit as he tried to garner the courage to say whatever it was he needed to get out. Finally, after a few minutes, Sara said, “Wren, what’s going on?”

“Okay, just—” Wren sighed, rubbing his face. “I have to preface this with the fact that only Alec knew this about me. He was the one who sealed my old records. You might change your mind once you know.”

“Unless you were a child kidnapper, I think it’ll be fine,” Sara replied, crossing her arms skeptically. “You weren’t a slaver, right?”

“Gods, no.” Wren sat down in the chair next to her, turning it so he could face her. “Alright, so I met Alec when I was in the Systems Alliance. My name was Adrian Tassi. They offered to pay for my education, and I wanted to go into bioengineering, but I had a knack for explosives and chemical engineering. I met your dad in boot camp; he was an N7 then, so I memorized his face, hoping I could be like him one day. I spent at least six years in the Alliance. But—” Wren sighed again, taking a moment to compose himself. His left leg was bouncing uncontrollably, revealing exactly how nervous he was. “I… had an incident with my commander. I tried to report it, and the unanimous answer was just, ‘Keep your mouth shut and get over it.’ And I couldn’t do that, so I sent an anonymous message to the Admiral about the situation. They figured out who it was pretty quickly, and I was dishonorably discharged for ‘slander.’”

Sara’s eyes widened as he went on, trying to let him finish but far too curious to keep her mouth shut. “What—Do you mind if I ask what happened?”

Wren stopped, wincing a bit. “I… No, it’s alright. My commander, he… He liked younger men. He wasn’t good about boundaries.”

Sara scowled suddenly. “God. Did this happen to anyone else?”

“A couple of men in my unit. Some of them were barely twenty.” He shook his head, looking at her with pleading eyes. “Please don’t say anything to anyone else. It’s—it’s not exactly the best thing that’s happened.”

“Wait, is that it?” Sara asked, then immediately corrected herself, “I mean, not that that’s not terrible, but you weren’t afraid I’d deny you for that, were you?”

“No, that’s not all.” Wren took a deep breath. “When I was discharged, I went to Omega—cheap living, and maybe I could find a job, maybe some temporary work until I solidified something with a merc group. But I couldn’t find anything clean. And, ah… one of my only friends at the time was killed by the Blue Suns after he couldn’t pay their security fees. He was a solo merc, but he did his best to keep clean.” He sighed, rubbing his face anxiously. “I got angry. Really angry. I stole some gear, some weapons, and I went after the Blue Suns. I think I took down five or six lieutenants—and when I realized how easy it was, I started taking hits from bigger names on Omega, under the name Wren Fowler.” Sara’s eyes were wider than before, but she simply let him continue, perhaps too shocked to ask any questions. “Aria T’Loak—you’ve probably heard of her, she took over Omega pretty early on and made it into something respectable, even for a crime hub. She paid me to kill some folks who were trying to get her killed, and when I came back, she paid me. Easy as that. But then I had a drink with her. And she got too personal. She asked me who I wanted out of the universe most. I told her I wanted Commander Aldrin Jacobs dead after everything he’d done to me. She told me she’d pay me double the total of every job she’d given me if I took him out. I know she was just trying to get a kick out of it, see if I’d do it, but… I came back from the job a week later, and she paid me exactly what she’d promised.”

He was shaking now, but he somehow managed to keep his voice steady. “But there was a price on my head after that. I ended up having to go on the run when they got word of my presence on Omega. The Blue Suns had apparently sent word to the Alliance that I was there, and Aria didn’t do a damn thing about it. So I got angrier, and I was—” He was starting to tear up, and he reached up, harshly wiping his eyes. “I was an idiot. I went after one of their satellite stations and marooned myself on it—they destroyed the main control panels before I killed everyone there.” He kept rubbing his eyes with the ends of his sleeves, desperately trying to get himself under control. “Alec arrived in a shuttle when they’d discovered the dead station. I hadn’t eaten in two days. I saw him and I thought, ‘Fuck. I’m going to prison.’ But he got me the medical attention I needed, sat me down with some rations. The ship he got me to didn’t look anything like an Alliance cruiser. He told me he—he remembered me. I was just some dumb, noodle-shaped recruit when he met me, but he still remembered me. I told him everything and begged him to tell me what to do, and he…” He sniffed a bit, wiping his nose and avoiding her eyes. “He offered me a second chance.”

Sara let the words settle in her ears, trying to think of how to respond. “Alright. You were… You were a freelance sniper. If I’m being honest, it’s not nearly as bad as I thought it could be, Wren.”

Wren huffed a little, shaking his head with a sorrowful smile. “I appreciate the offer, Ryder. I’m just… I’m not sure I’ve earned it, yet.”

“Oh, no. The offer still stands.” Sara reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped a little in surprise. “Wren, my dad and I may not have seen eye-to-eye, but he knew how to see the best in people. And he didn’t put his trust in just anyone. I didn’t think I’d earned it, either, but he gave me SAM, anyway, right before he died.” She squeezed his shoulder gently, smiling faintly. “If anyone needs a chance, it’s us. Right? Are you joining me or not?”

His eyes widened, and he was quiet for a moment, trying to read Ryder’s face as though he wasn’t sure if she was being honest or not. Then, he sighed softly, sitting up straight. “Yeah. I’ll join.”


End file.
